Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns the technical field of medical information processing, in particular information concerning a local radio-frequency (RF) coil for a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and a method of use of such a local RF coil therein, and a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus having such a local RF coil.
Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an imaging modality involving biomagnetics and nuclear spin that has advanced rapidly with the development of computer technology, electronic circuit technology and superconductor technology. MRI uses a basic magnetic field and radio frequency (RF) pulses to induce oscillation of precessing hydrogen nuclei (i.e. H+) in human tissue, so as to generate RF signals that are processed by a computer to form an image. If an object is placed in a magnetic field and irradiated by suitable electromagnetic waves to produce resonance therein, and electromagnetic waves released thereby are then analyzed, it is possible to identify the positions and types of the atomic nuclei of which the object is composed. On this basis, a precise three-dimensional image of the interior of the object can be produced. For instance, a moving picture of contiguous slices can be obtained by performing an MRI scan of the human brain.
In an MRI system, a transmitting coil transmits RF pulses to bring about magnetic resonance. A local RF coil receives the RF magnetic resonance signal, and sends the magnetic resonance signal to a reception coil channel selector (RCCS) and a receiver. The magnetic resonance signal is digitized in the receiver. An image reconstruction computer uses a digital signal resulting from digitization to reconstruct an image.
In the prior art, configuration attribute information of the local coil is stored in an optical disk corresponding to the local coil. When the local coil is first installed on a patient table, it is necessary to insert the optical disk into an optical drive of the control computer of the MRI system. The control computer reads out the configuration attribute information of the local coil from the optical disk and configures the local coil accordingly. However, the procedure of acquiring configuration attribute information by the use of an optical disk is tedious. For instance, when it is necessary to install new local coils frequently, it is necessary to insert and withdraw optical disks frequently, and this leads to low working efficiency.
Furthermore, if the wrong optical disk is inserted by mistake, there is the possibility of the local coil being wrongly configured.